No more excuses about
not having time to exercise. New
research finds that doing just one minute of high-intensity exercise can boost
your metabolic health as much as doing 45-minute moderate intensity workout.
The study
included 27 inactive men who were randomly assigned to do either short high
exertion or longer moderate exertion workouts three times a week for 12 weeks,
or to a control group that did not exercise.
The intense exercise included three 20-second “all out” sprints on
exercise bikes. It also included a two-minute warm-up, a three-minute
cool-down, and two minutes of easy cycling for recovery between sprints for a
total workout time of 10 minutes. The
men in the moderate workout group did 45 minutes of continuous cycling at a
moderate pace, plus the same warm-up and cool-down as those in the sprint
interval group. At the start and end of
the 12-weeks, researchers assessed participant's aerobic fitness level as well
as their body’s ability to use insulin
properly to regulate blood sugar levels. They also biopsied the men’s muscles
to examine how well their muscles functioned at a cellular level.
By the end of
the study, the endurance group had ridden for a total of 27 hours, while the
short interval group had ridden for a total of six hours, with only 36 minutes
of that time being strenuous. Despite
the dramatic difference in how long each of the exercise groups had spent
working out, by the end of the study, both exercise groups exhibited similar
improvements in fitness and blood sugar regulation. Both groups had nearly a 20% improvement in
endurance, significant improvements in insulin sensitivity, and significant
increases in microscopic structures in the men's muscles that are related to
energy production and oxygen consumption .
What to do: So, in this
study, short intense activity and longer moderate intensity activity were equally good at improving health and
fitness. But, the very brief, high
intensity exercise was much, much shorter, so, if you are having difficulty
making time for activity, doing short intense intervals may be an effective
strategy to improve fitness. Try
powering up the stairwell at work or Google "high intensity interval
training" for lots of ways to get in this type of exercise. Certainly, high intensity exercise in not
appropriate for all persons especially those with heart health problems. (Always
talk to your provider before starting a new exercise program.) If very vigorous activity is not for you, this
study also illustrated that the more traditional workout format of sustained moderate
intensity activity (such as brisk walking) remains an effective strategy to
improve fitness.
Source:
Gillen JB, Martin
BJ, MacInnis MJ et al. Twelve weeks of sprint interval training improves
indices of cardiometabolic health similar to traditional endurance training
despite a five-fold lower exercise volume and time commitment. PLOS ONE, 2016; 11 (4): e0154075 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154075
Adapted from articles available at:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160427095204.htm
https://consumer.healthday.com/fitness-information-14/misc-health-news-265/one-minute-is-all-you-need-for-a-good-workout-710408.html
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/10/one-minute-workout/?_r=0
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/02/is-one-minute-of-high-intensity-exercise-really-enough-to-get-fit
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